Railroad-tie



(No Niodel.) V

A. MGKENNEY.

, QAILROA'D. TIE. No. 372,230. Patented Oct. 25, 1887.

, ture of my said improvementnamely,that of displacement.

'fully set forth.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ALMERON MCKENNEY, OF'ENGLEW'OOD, ILLINOIS.

RAILRO AD-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,230, dated October25, 1887.

Application filed June 16, 1887.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALMERON MOKENNEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Englewood, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented acertain new and usefullmprovement in Railroad-Ties; and Ihereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same.

My improvement relates particularly to the construction of metallicties, though one fealaying the ties in zigzag order, hereinafterdescribedmay also be applied to wooden ties.

The common manner hitherto practiced of laying the ties allparallel toeach other trans-- versely across the road-bed is objectionable,principally because the ties are subject to displacement both laterallyand longitudinally, and thus render liable the throwing out of line orgage of the rails and require constant attention and repairing,with theconsequent expense, to prevent disastrous results from such It is myobject to provide a construction of tie whereby the objections abovestated shall be overcome and smoothness in the track afforded; and tothis end my invention consists in arailroad tie beveled transversely atone end and straight transversely at the opposite end, whereby the saidtie is adapted to be secured to the side of the adjacent tie.

It also consists in a metallic railroad-tie beveled transversely at oneend, straight transversely at the opposite end, whereby the said tie isadapted to be secured to the side of the adjacent tie, and flangedlaterally; and it further consists in details of construction andcombinations of parts, all as hereinafter more In the drawings, Figure 1is a top plan view of several of myimproved metal ties secured togetherand supporting sections of rails, to show the manner of placing the tiesfor the purposes of my improvement. Fig. 2 is a bottom, view of thatwhich is shown in Fig. 1'. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same, andFig. 4 is a broken view of a rail in side elevation transversely on oneof my improved ties, shown in end elevation, and having the ballasttamped down about the tie-flanges.

A A are metallic ties-of iron or steelpro- Serial No. 241,513. (Nomodel.)

vided withlateral flanges r. The ties are out from flanged plates, eachthirty feet long and seven inches wide, and which is run upon aturnstile provided with rollers to permit the heated plate to be movedendwise to shears. The first cut is made at a desired distance from theend and is diagonal across the plate, and the next cut the desireddistance from the end of the bevel produced by the first cut, butstraightacross, the operations of beveled and straight cutting beingperformed alternately to produce lengths each beveled at one extremityand straightat the opposite extremity. The next step, after cutting theplate into lengths, as described, is to provide transverse openingsthrough the flanges of each one near each extremity, through which topass bolts for securing the ties together, as hereinafter described,which openings are elongated, if provided to receive a certainform ofbolt, hereinafter referred to, or round, if the common form of bolt isemployed; and bolt-holes to receive the bolts for securing the rails tothe ties are also provided in any desired number and in proper position.v

The. ties are laid on the road-bed in zigzag relative position, asshown-that is to say, one tie is laid straight across the road-bed,thenext is adjusted at its straight end to the bevel on one end of thefirstlaid tie, whereby the bevel on the opposite end of the tie laidafter the first extends transversely to the track, to permit theadjustment to it of the third tie, and vso on. As the ties are cut allprecisely alike, it is of course necessary, as will be understood, inorder to lay them in the manner described, that one-half of the ties beinverted to afford to those directly transverse to the track one bevel,and to those obliquely transverse to the track the opposite bevel. Whenlaid, the ties are secured together by bolts passed through thetransverse openings hereinbefore referred to, which coincide in theadjacent ties, and then the ballasting is tarnped down in the usualmanner to set the ties firmly. I prefer to use for securing the tiestogether doubleheaded bolts p, of the construction shown and describedin Letters Patent of the United States No. 117,657, granted me on the1st day of August,l87 1, and having each a one-eighthinch shoulder and aslanting bearing to conform to the slant of the alternate ties, so that,the elongated openings referred to being provided, when thelaterally-flattened head of a clamp-bolt is pushed through such anopening, by turning it one fourth around the beveled surface of theshoulder draws the two adjacent parts of the ties together and firmlyholds them. If common bolts with nuts are used, it is necessary to placebeveled washers under the heads and nuts.

The rails 13 are fastened to the ties by bolts 12., inserted intobolt-holes in the rail-flanges and into those provided, as aforesaid,for the purpose in the ties, and secured by nuts 0.

It will be seen that the construction of ties which permits the mannerof laying them herein described and shown affords broad bearing-surfacefor the rails and causes the ties to cover more than one-half thesurface of the road-bed,leavingangularspacesbetweenthem, which, beingfilled with the ballast tamped down, makes apractically continuoushomoge neous bed,wherein the ties are liable neither to lateral norlongitudinal displacement, and are as durable as the metal of which theyare formed.

Vith my improved tie uniformly fine gravel or concrete may be used toadvantage as a surface dressing for the bed.

It is advisable before laying the ties to coat them with somepreservative-such as coaltarto aid them in resisting corrosion.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Arailroadtie beveled transversely at one end and straight transversely atits opposite end,whereby the said tie is adapted to be secured to theside of the adjacent tie, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. A laterally-flanged metallic railroad-tie beveled transversely at oneend and straight transversely at its opposite end, whereby the said tieis adapted to be secured to the side of the adjacent tie, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

3. A laterally-flanged metallic railroad-tie beveled transversely at oneend, straight transversely at its opposite end, and provided withhorizontal transverse boltholes through the flanges near opposite endsand with vertical boltholes in its body, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the bed of a railroad, of metal ties A, eachbeveled at one extremity, laid in zigzag relative position, and boltedtogether near-their contiguous cxtremities, and supporting rails 13,secured upon them, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the bed of a railroad, of laterally-ilangedmetal ties A, each beveled atone extremity, laid in zigzag relativeposition, horizontal bolts 19, securing the ties together near theircontiguous extremities, and rails B, secured upon the ties across theircontiguous ends, substantially as described.

ALMERON MCKENNEY.

In presence of J. W. DYRENFORTH, Gnonon G. COOK.

